Polish Gays Fight On

Poland's nascent gay rights movement is gaining steam as activists have filed charges against that country's former Communist Party.

Szymon Niemiec and Jacek Adler made history by formally filing charges against the former Polish Communist Party for human rights crimes against homosexuals in their native Poland.

In the year 2000 after the formation of the Third Polish Republic a commission was established where Polish citizens could petition the government to investigate crimes committed by the former Communist regime during the years of 1939 until 1990.

From 1985 to 1987 the Communist Party and Polish Secret Police conducted the “Hyacinth” actions against homosexuals. The Polish police routinely harassed, interrogated, assaulted and jailed tens of thousands of suspected gays – oftentimes keeping them in prison for months without filing charges. Some homosexuals were coerced into collaboration with the secret police by threatening to expose their homosexuality publicly if they did not agree to be informants for the secret police.

Gays in Poland face strong offical opposition from the government and the church. Some choices quotes from Polish leaders:

-Wojciech Wierzejski (League of Polish Families) in 2006: "Faggot activists should be putted into the jail and rest of fagots we need to beat by baseball bats."

-Ryszard Bender (League of Polish Families) in 2004: "After the League of Polish Families will be in power, we will build re-education camps for faggots."

-Tadeusz Rydzyk (priest and owner of Radio Maryja) in 2006: "Gays should wear a pink signs on their faces."

-Cardinal Nagy from Krakow in 2004: "It was good that our Polish youth beat the sick homosexuals out from the streets."